Jaw-Dropping Scale of Voters’ Election Fears Under Trump Revealed

Americans are deeply worried about the integrity of elections under Donald Trump, with nearly three-quarters expressing concern about multiple threats to the voting process, a new poll finds.

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A Gallup/Charles F. Kettering Foundation survey of more than 23,000 adults found 73 percent have at least a fair amount of concern about several aspects of elections.

The unease extends to voters themselves. Four in 10 Americans said they are concerned about being confronted, followed, or recorded while casting their ballots.

While those fears span partisan lines, the concerns of Democrats and Republicans differ.

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to fear political interference from election officials, at 77 percent compared with 56 percent, and voter intimidation, at 60 percent versus 46 percent.

Republicans, meanwhile, show greater concern about ballot security. About 66 percent express at least some concern that ballots could be mishandled or improperly counted, compared with 52 percent of Democrats and 54 percent of independents.

Social media use also appears linked to heightened anxiety about elections. Concern about voter intimidation rises from 48 percent among non-users to 60 percent among heavy users, while concern over ballot handling climbs from 48 percent to 65 percent.

Trump, who has never conceded that Joe Biden defeated him in the 2020 presidential election, has done more to sow distrust in the electoral system than any leader in U.S. history.

He has repeatedly claimed, without providing proof, that widespread fraud had cost him the presidency in 2020 and described the election as “rigged.”

In a November 2020 speech, he asserted that Democrats were trying to “steal the election” and alleged fraud in states including Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

More recently, Trump and other Republican leaders have repeatedly claimed that mail-in ballots lead to widespread fraud and that noncitizens are voting in U.S. elections.

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His administration has also pushed major changes to voting and mail-ballot rules, including an executive order that directs the federal government to create state-by-state lists of U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote, tightening the control of the federal government over who can vote in elections.

Trump’s administration has presented the changes as an effort to prevent noncitizens from voting and improve election security.

Federal law already prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections.

Courts have blocked key portions of the effort, with one federal appeals court ruling this month that Trump could not implement the order in 23 states.

The president has also pushed hard for the passage of the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote. The bill is currently stalled in the Senate.

Trump has further called on Republicans to “take over the voting… in at least… 15 places” and to “nationalize the voting,” effectively centralizing aspects of elections traditionally managed by states, while former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem previously claimed her department would “make sure we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders.”

Amid the Trump administration’s efforts, Democrats and voting experts have warned of potential voter disenfranchisement ahead of the midterms in November.

And polling shows that voters are seriously concerned about election integrity for the midterms.

Research published in February by the UC San Diego Center for Transparent and Trusted Elections showed that only 60 percent of the 11,406 voters surveyed said they were confident that midterm votes will be counted fairly.

That was down from 77 percent after the 2024 presidential election.

Meanwhile, the Gallup poll points to a wider concern among Americans about the state of the political system.

Eight in 10 Americans worry political leaders may knowingly break the law, while 78 percent are concerned about wealthy donors and organizations secretly pouring money into politics. Another 77 percent fear politicians are manipulating voting districts to tilt elections in their favor.

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